'You may say I'm a dreamer…' -John Lennon

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I’ve forced myself to build certain habits to live a more efficient life which would in hopes make me live a happier life and so far, it’s working!

Being an adult is hard and I thought it would take me a long time to get the hang of it, but really it’s all about time management. I’m proud to say that even though I have been living on my own for a few years now, I’m starting to get the hang of this whole adulting thing. A lot of these habits are very recent changes that I’ve incorporated into my life. My boyfriend has been a great help in helping me stay true to these habits, to be quite honest we do most of these things together.

1. Grocery Shopping is done every single Sunday

-We have a list of all the items we need, they usually are always the same with very little variations. We buy just enough to last us the week, no more no less.

-Old Natalie would have waited to buy groceries randomly when she was out of something, so there wasn’t much consistency in having a stocked fridge in case of emergencies like company or work lunches

2. Laundry is done every single weekend.

-We do one or two loads, depending on how many towels need to be washed, obviously, this isn’t a lot of laundry, but we’re just a household of two people, so we can’t really produce that much laundry. Our hedgehog has blankets that need to be washed, those get thrown in with the towels when we do a load of them. I even threw out or donated a lot of my old clothes that I didn’t need.

Old Natalie would have waited until she was either out of one of two things; socks or underwear. I had a LOT of clothes so that would sometimes last a long time. (You don’t even want to know how long.)

3. Meal prepping is done once a week usually on Saturday or Sunday

– Meal prepping has been a great help! We just make one big meal and that lasts us almost all week. Occasionally we need to cook a slightly bigger supper in order to have leftovers for Thursday and Friday but we’re usually pretty on top of it. Plus, meal prepping means you can make healthy things. So even on the go, you don’t have to sacrifice quality for quick.

– Old Natalie would have cooked very little and stayed with easy choices like KD and instant noodles. Not very healthy… Sometimes it was just easier not to eat at all, which is never a good idea.

4. Dishes are done frequently.

– It probably helps that we have a dishwasher and a double sink, but dishes don’t pile up nearly as much as they used to. Meal prepping has caused more dishes to be made, but at least now I do them. haha.

– Old Natalie would have not done dishes. They were only done in case of emergencies. But sometimes a dish would get so bad, it was easier to throw it out than to clean it. I’m ashamed to admit that that’s happened more than once in the past. But it won’t happen again.

So yeah, those are basically the big habits that have been in effect for a while now. It’s safe to say I still have a lot to learn, like cleaning everyday household items, I need to get better at remembering to wash the floors, bathtub and other items more frequently. I’m not saying I’m disgusting, in any means, I still do those things, but I just wish I had a better cleaning schedule, in time I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it and I won’t forget those simple things, because let’s be honest, those chores don’t take long to do at all. Sometimes I’m just busy and it slips my mind or I’m lazy.

The road to adulthood is a long one, but I’m getting there, slowly but surely.

Good luck to all of the other young adults out there trying to figure out how to get their sh*t together. And also to the seasoned adults who have been at it for a while, but are still struggling with the same simple tasks. You give me hope that perfection will probably never be achieved, and I’m okay with that.

Having no internet sucks. So the thought of moving and finding a new internet company seemed like a huge hassle. So I thought: ‘Hey, I kinda like the package that I’m using right now, I’ll just call them and tell them I want it transferred to the new location.’

It sounds dandy, but in reality it was horrible. We waited an entirety of 3 whole days for the dumbos to come install our internet but no one showed up, no one called to tell us why either. After the third stand up, enough was enough. I thanked them for their service but would not be needing it after all, called up the nearest provider that I knew was reliable and ended up getting an even better package than before. Nothing beats that!

So now I have the internet again which means I finally can get back to netflix! And cross stitching, seeing as all my patterns are online. Also video games! And buzzfeed oh and I listen to all my music on youtube so I get that back too! No more screaming heavy metal. yay.

To be completely honest though, it was kind of nice to not have any internet. I don’t want to seem rude but we were completely oblivious to what was happening out in the world. And it seems a lot had happened, horrible and tragic events that I’m sad about, but had no idea about without the internet.

Being disconnected made me want to lead a super simple life. It made me want to cook meals and try my hand at a little baking. It made me physically go to the movie store to rent some movies. It felt good to not be glued to a device or computer because I will admit, I use those a lot. It was also nice to not be constantly reminded of everyone’s birthdays on facebook.

I think everyone should take the time to unplug their phones, pick up an old book that you loved or maybe that guitar you’ve always wanted to get good at but never put the time and the effort into it. Take up that old hobby or passion and do it! It’s those types of things in your life that will give you the most joy, not watching someone else do it on youtube. Or look at the wonderful things other people have done on instagram.

There’s a whole world out there for you to explore, right out your doorstep. (And no, that doesn’t mean by catching them all through pokemon go. Though you could catch a few along the way…)

The Hundred-Foot Journey took me on such a rich and cultural journey that there was absolutely no part that I didn’t like. This book will make you feel the need to travel and eat good food.

The story is about the Haji family from India that moves to France. They open an Indian restaurant right in front of a very classic and very popular French one. The owner of the French restaurant, Madame Mallory, isn’t pleased with her new neighbors and so the fight begins. Hassan, the young man who cooks for Maison Mumbai has an undying passion for food. After he discovers the flavors of French cooking, he wishes nothing more than to learn the fine art of French cuisine. He knows that Madame Malory would be the best teacher, but only if she gets past their cultural differences.

The beautiful descriptions in this book kept me captivated and mesmerized from the first page all the way to the last.

Definitely a must read for anyone who has ever fallen in love with a culture and/or it’s food!

10 out of 10!!!

P.S. I saw the movie and no word of a lie, I thought it was better than the book! Which is saying something! GO WATCH IT PLEASE! Once it comes out on Blu-Ray you need to:

1. Grab a bunch of friends who love food and movies.

2. Cook a bunch of different French and Indian food! (e.i. appetizers, meals, desserts… etc) While listening to a playlist of French and Indian music. (maybe I’ll make one eventually)

3. Watch The Hundred-Foot Journey movie while eating the food and drinking really good wine!

What a week! I made it to Ottawa! I am all moved into my dorm room! (picture will be coming soon) I got all my cards from the university like my student card, bus card and key to my room. I have been having an awesome time meeting people and just having fun! Frosh week was crazy. There were activities and concerts.

These two pictures are from a concert that was playing in one of the parking lots literally minutes away from my dorm room. It was none other than Walk Off the Earth. I almost cried when I found out they were playing. They are one of my absolute favorite bands! (Living in Ottawa was a good idea) During one of the activity days, they had set up a carnival with multiple blow up game things and booths with cotton candy, little games and other fun things. A DJ played music while you walked around meeting people and having a blast. The booth games were all sponsored by campus committees so they all had specific subjects. It was pretty awesome.

One of the nights during Frosh, we tried going to Parliament Hill and watch the light show but it was cancelled! It was disappointing but I got to see the cool fire pit that I hadn’t seen in a while.

I also started my classes on Wednesday. Here’s a quick summary of my classes:

French literature of 18th century

Latin

French: Grammar

Music: Elements of music

Philosophy: Critical Thinking

It was a little bit confusing at first, to get around campus and find my classes but I am pretty proud of myself. I don’t have a meal plan, so I am buying my own food and making my own meals. So far, I am having a great time!

I will be posting pictures of my dorm room and other cool things during this next week.

Here’s tip number five:

If you’re new to the whole living on your own thing, make yourself lists of what to do during the day like what to eat, what to buy and other useful things. In the long run, you will feel more organized and the first couple days of living by yourself won’t be as overwhelming.

And tip number six:

Keep yourself busy! Don’t think about how different life will be. Do things that you enjoy when you’re bored because sometimes your thoughts can be your worse enemy when you’re missing home or unsure of what the future holds for you.